


A Picture's Worth A Thousand Words

by E_K_Hannila



Category: Original Work
Genre: Anthology, Nonfiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-24
Updated: 2018-03-24
Packaged: 2019-04-07 09:45:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14078169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/E_K_Hannila/pseuds/E_K_Hannila
Summary: I have a talent for writing stories based off a single image. Here's a collection of these stories. Comment with images you'd like me to use. The image I based each story off of is linked in the notes for each chapter.





	1. Life And Death

**Author's Note:**

> https://a.wattpad.com/cover/66222910-288-k273463.jpg

I settled down in the chair, keeping my eyes focused on the man sitting across from me.

"I suppose you know why I'm here," I said. The man nodded, his eyes still closed.

We sat in silence for another few moments. Then, just as the quiet was nearly tangible, I coughed and said, "So can you help me?"

The man nodded again, setting his fingertips on the edge of a bowl placed between us. The water began to simmer, though the room was quite cold, and wisps of steam rose from its surface.

I looked into the water, seeing my own distorted reflection look back at me. I saw myself age faster and faster, and as I watched, images filled my mind. Two small bundles, mewling and laughing. A wide, grassy field seen from above. A crackle and the smell of cinnamon and mint, repeated fifty, sixty times over, each memory more vivid than the last.

"So I'm not going to die?" I said, relieved and excited at the same time. My hand rose to my chest, tapping out the slight irregular heartbeat. It was bad, but not fatal.

I looked up at the man, but what I saw destroyed any joy I felt.

His face flickered as he opened his eyes, and for a few brief moments, I saw the skull hidden under his skin.

He growled in rage, and a black knife flickered into existence on the table. He picked it up, and in that moment I realized my mistake.

In the images he had shown me, I saw my wife, my family, and a peaceful life...

But I never saw me.


	2. The Deep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://i.pinimg.com/736x/3b/c9/74/3bc97495e039ad786de5007a636fa4d6.jpg

The little girl stood at the very end of the pier, looking down past her bare feet, past the planks, down to the water and the blackness below. 

"Is this really it?" she said, looking up at the man who had brought her here.

The man didn't respond. He didn't know how. The journey here had been so difficult -- fighting demons, chasing down every bit of help they could find, even facing Thanolucai, and all with a child at his side. A child with immense power at her fingertips, but a child nonetheless, with the needs of any other little girl.

He was so tired.

But he gathered up the last vestiges of his strength, picking her up and carrying her on one arm. "Yes," he said. "This is it. Are you ready?"

The girl looked out at the water, and the ruined buildings surrounding it. She could feel the energies of this place, though she couldn't have known what they were from. Not yet. That knowledge would come with time.

"No," she said, standing on the pier. "Not yet. Can we wait a bit?"

The man smiled, sitting down. "Of course. We can wait as long as you want."

The two of them stayed there, side by side, for ages.

"I... I think I'm ready," the girl said, standing up. She pulled the small boat over to the dock, stepping into it gingerly. The wood was old, but it held firm, only bobbing slightly as her weight was added.

Unbidden, with no action from either of them, the boat drifted out towards the emptiness. The girl never looked back.

"Farewell, Aquiara," the man said, watching the young water goddess disappear into the depths.


End file.
